Cold Case Files: Murder in the Bayou

- Selonia was so sweet, like a magnolia flower.

- To be killed the way she was killed,

I just know she was scared to death.

- As a 6-year-old boy, I was like, mommy's dead?

My mommy's dead?

- In our little bayou country, people were panicking.

This never happens here.

- There's a lot of alarms going off to police.

There's a lot of red flags popping up.

- No one had ever heard of people being stabbed

in such a way.

That many wounds, that much blood.

It's one thing to kill,

but it's a whole nother level to desecrate,

humiliate a person that way.

- This was very dark and very creepy,

and people thought, what kind of monster would do this?

And is he still out there?

He's a cold, blooded killer.

Hammond, Louisiana.

We are in the Bayou region, as a lot of people call it.

I've lived here my entire life.

We are the strawberry capital of the world down here.

I grew up on a little strawberry farm myself.

- The people here in Hammond are friendly people.

- We have a whole lot of fun and laughter.

Any excuse to have a party.

- Hammond is a great place to live and raise a family.

But like any city, you know there's violence.

And when the sun goes down, it can be a sketchy place

where you may not wanna find yourself.

- It's a blistering summer morning.

The sun knives through the cypress trees

as police get an emergency call from a panicked resident.

- On the morning of August 23rd, 1987,

Reginald Reed telephoned the Hammond Police Department

that his wife, Selonia Reed,

had not come home from a night out.

She had gone to a local bar with friends

and when he awoke the next morning,

he discovered her missing.

The Hammond Police dispatched a police officer.

He met with Reginald

and then began to canvas the area.

As they were investigating,

police got a call from the gentleman

who discovered some contents of a purse,

some credit cards, ID and some checks.

The checks had Selonia Reed's name, address,

and phone number.

Just a couple of blocks from where the purse was found

is the John's Curb Market.

And in that open parking lot was in plain view,

a 1986 blue Chevy Sprint two door vehicle.

They called in the license plate

and it came back registered to Selonia Reed.

The officer looked into the passenger side window

and saw the deceased body of Selonia Reed.

Selonia's body was beaten.

She was stabbed in the chest/neck area.

Her face was bludgeoned in, her body was stripped naked.

- There was also a large amount of a white substance

that was covering her body.

- The police thought it had one time had been a word,

unfortunately, in the hot sun.

As this white substance smeared with the blood,

they couldn't read it.

This wasn't a random killing.

This was the work of a very angry person that wanted

to humiliate, embarrass, and desecrate her

in the last moments that she had on earth.

- As the forensics team pieces together clues

at the crime scene, officers deliver the heartbreaking news

to Selonia Reed's family.

- I was at Selonia and Reginald's house the morning

the police came and told us that

they had found Selonia in her car.

I mean, I, I, I was just sick, hurt,

to be killed the way she was killed.

I just know she was scared to death.

- From an early age Selonia "Selonia" Reed

was a quiet girl with big dreams.

- There was five girls in the family.

I was the oldest girl, and Selonia was the fourth girl.

Selonia was always quiet and very lovable, very giving.

And Selonia was a mama's girl, for sure.

- Selonia, she had a beautiful smile, you know,

and she was just outgoing.

Selonia was a beautiful person.

- While attending southeastern

Louisiana University,

Selonia meets Reginald Reed.

He's a former Marine from a prominent bayou family.

A romance blossoms under the hot Louisiana sun.

- When Selonia met Reginald, she thought he was just like,

gorgeous, and she just fell head over hill in love with him.

They were with each other all the time.

I mean, when you would see them together,

they were the perfect couple.

Selonia and Reginald.

- The very first time I met Selonia,

we'd just come home from mass.

We thought she was really nice.

- In the blink of an eye,

Reginald and Selonia are married.

They move into a modest home on Apple Street.

Soon after the young couple welcome a son,

whom they name Reggie Junior.

- Selonia was excited about being a mom.

After little Reggie was born, she was very happy.

She loved that boy so much.

Every Sunday she would take him to the library

and read to him.

Selonia was a fantastic mother.

- Police collected everything that was in the vehicle.

They collected all of Selonia's clothing.

There was miscellaneous contents along the floorboard,

and there was a Winston cigarette butt.

Selonia Reed was not a smoker, neither was her husband.

Her family, and her coworkers said she kept

her vehicle spotless and she did not like

the smell of cigarette smoke.

- Maybe we can find someone that smokes

those specific types of cigarettes.

So it was bagged and processed for evidence.

- As the investigation deepens,

detectives get statements from Selonia's loved ones

about their whereabouts the night she was murdered.

- Traditionally, police always begin

with the significant other,

the person closest to the victim.

According to Reginald,

his wife was going out with her coworkers

and he was home with Reggie Junior

playing video games all night.

And when he awoke the next morning, she was missing.

- Next morning, woke up, mom wasn't there.

I remember that family was over and I overheard

one of my uncles talking about the death of my mother.

And I kind of repeated like, mommy's dead? My mommy's dead?

And that's when world just stopped.

I remember that I was being consoled by my dad on his lap.

The next day,

detectives learn more about Selonia's cause of death.

When the medical examiner's autopsy report hits their desk.

- Selonia suffered 16 different stab wounds

in her neck, chest area.

The wounds were described as long puncture circular wounds,

larger than a ice pick or like a small screwdriver.

Unfortunately, investigators weren't able

to pin down a murder weapon at the crime scene.

So the autopsy ultimately led

to more questions than answers.

There was no evidence of any defensive wounds on her hands.

So maybe she was taken by surprise,

or she was near someone whom she thought she could trust

and they got the jump on her.

It's one thing to take a person's life.

It's a whole nother level to desecrate

and humiliate a person that way.

So who killed Selonia Reed?

As a 6-year-old boy,

waking up on a random Sunday morning

and to get the news of mommy's dead

is a whole nother ball game.

The way my mother was taken away from this earth,

someone deliberately took her life.

I just wanna know why.

- With the close knit town of Hammond on edge,

investigators turned to Selonia's family for more clues.

Her sisters recall an odd incident that happened the week

before Selonia was murdered.

- My sister Jackie stayed a couple nights

with Selonia since Reginald was out of town.

So that particular night, about 10 o'clock,

Jackie was gonna go out and smoke a cigarette.

As she opened the door to go out, there was a guy,

I mean like right there.

Jackie said, what? What are you doing here? Who are you?

And he told her, it's Jimmy Ray.

- He steps out of the shadows and scares her to no end.

He just kinda lurked in her yard and stared at her.

At that time, the door opens, Selonia comes out

and says, what are you doing out here?

And starts screaming.

Selonia was terrified that somebody was watching her,

and she was afraid.

- And Jimmy told them that he was there to check on Selonia

and Jackie responded to him that Selonia was a grown woman

and didn't need to be checked on.

And she ran him off.

At the time that the incident occurred,

this would have been three days

before the murder of Selonia Reed.

- Jimmy Ray lived not four from where Selonia

and Reginald lived.

We knew him from the neighborhood.

He was a weird guy. Very, very weird.

And ever since then, we kind of thought

Jimmy Ray was involved.